Ellen M. Blalock / The Post-StandardRainy morning. People wait for a bus at 6:30 a.m. on the corner of Washington and South Salina Streets.

Syracuse, NY – The thunderstorm that rolled through Central New York this morning is the coming attraction for the main feature starring rain, winds, hail, with the slight chance of a tornado making a guest appearance.

The forecast from the National Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., has placed Central New York on the border between moderate risk and the slight risk of severe storms between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., said Meteorologist Joanne LaBounty, with the weather service in Binghamton.

That puts the Syracuse area at a 2 percent risk for a tornado, versus Cortland, a half-hour to the south, where the risk is 5 percent, she said.

“Isolated tornados can’t be ruled out for today,” LaBounty said. “The main threat is the usual sort of damaging winds and large hail.”

View full sizeNational Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service in Binghamton shows the areas of New York state with the highest threat for severe storms.

The chance of a tornado is higher the further south you go in New York state and in the Northeastern sections of Pennsylvania, she said.

Late last night Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a press release urging New Yorkers to keep an eye out for severe weather today and to pay close attention to local radio and television reports.

He ordered the State Emergency Operations Center to be activated at 1 p.m. today.

There should be a brief period, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., where the weather should be relatively rain free, with some isolated showers and thunderstorms, the weather service said.

The high temperature today should climb to 88 degrees.

Thunderstorms should be come more numerous, and more severe with threats of hail and damaging winds, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. as a cold front approaches from the northwest.

LaBounty said the area could expect about an inch of rain, maybe more in areas that get more severe storms.

Syracuse is about 2.5 inches below its average rainfall for the month.

“This will help certainly, but it won’t make up the whole deficit,” LaBounty said. “Typically when you get heavy rain in a short period of time it tends to run off. If you get an inch of rain, the people that need it won’t complain.”

Look for unsettled weather, showers and thunderstorms, in the area through Saturday. It should be partly sunny to mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms Friday, Friday night and Saturday, Labounty said.